Why does looking at a bright light help me to sneeze?

Question

Why does looking at a bright light help me to sneeze?

Answer 1

It's psychosomatic.

Answer 2

it helps me too it just does because your eyes takes light on badly

Answer 3

It's called a photic sneeze reflex.  In case you'd like more info on the matter, check out

http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/060...

That will get you pointing in the right directions.

Answer 4

lol its not the light

its just looking up

Answer 5

i have no idea but for some reason it makes me sneeze too. maybe its just the brightness and some how it travels throughout the senses and makes you sneeze. no clue, but that's my opinion. lol.

Answer 6

It doesn't really it's just one of those things people say. They say it helps so your brain thinks it does,,,but it really doesn't

Answer 7

This is still a mystery, but my guess is that it is due to your eyes reacting to the light, which causes a muscle spasm or twitch in your nose, the irritation produces a sneeze.

I don't sneeze from light, some people don't, but I can make myself sneeze by aggressively rubbing the upper part of my nose, which would further support the muscle thing I mentioned.  

Answer 8

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=look...

Answer 9

So you are sun-sneezer huh?  This apparently doesn't happen to everyone, but it happens to a lot of people.  It has to do with your reflexes.  In the usual sneeze reflex, tickling the nose causes nerve signals to go from the nose to the brain and then back out to the nose, mouth, chest muscles and everything else involved in the actual sneeze.  Apparently what happens in sun-sneezers is that shining a bright light in the eye sends nerves signals from the eye to the brain and then back out to the nose, mouth and chest! In short, the wires are crossed a little bit in and so shining a light in the eye "accidentally" activates your brain into thinking you need to sneeze.